The period leading up to World War I in France was a time in which war was a pressing issue, and men were trying to regain their "supermasculinity" after coming back from a miserable defeat in the Franco-Prussian war. Deemed the "trial of the century," the Caillaux Affair presented itself as a trial not ordinarily witnessed. The trial of Madame Caillaux and her murder of journalist Henry Calmette not only served as a distraction to the impending war, but it also symbolized Belle Epoque culture to its core. Edward Berenson interweaves the trial with French society's attitudes by incorporating courtroom antics to express Belle Epoque's values, irony to justify men's false presumption of their superiority to women, and drama to capture the reader's feelings

Although the book is supposed to be about the trial surrounding the murder of Henry Calmette, Bereson primarily uses the courtroom antics of the characters as examples of Belle Epoque and French culture. With each chapter a specific characteristic of French society is explained in detail. However, the main underlying theme of the novel is the importance of gender in Belle Epoque society and how it affected the trial. Berenson e

orneys argue over the release of lettres intimes. Bereson utilizes this confrontation in order to show the reasons why each lawyer does or does not want the letters to be submitted to the court. Along with this subplot, he is able to incorporate the power of the

Another aspect of the novel that both enhances the presentation of the material and reveals Belle Epoque's fixation upon sustaining manhood is the irony presented throughout. The irony Berenson brings forth helps to reveal the utter the invalid conception of French society's belief in males' expression of masculinity. French men's fascination with dueling is a prime example of this irony. Judge Albanel's incident with one of his assistant judges, Louis Dagoury, serves to illustrate this need to uphold one's honor. The dueling between the two men shows how desperate French men had become

Fortunately for Henriette Caillaux, she was acquitted of all charges against her. However, her and Joseph Caiullaux's lives would never be the same again. The Caillaux Affair "marked the end of an era whose efforts to forsake the culture and values of the nineteenth century only revealed how persistent those mores could be" (247). Berenson illustrates this unusual and complex event in French history with remarkable detail without sacrificing the enjoyment gained by the reader.

about preserving their virility. Yet the duel had become "a disguise and socially acceptable crime of passion for the effeminate men of a neurasthenic Belle Epoque" (198). Unlike men, however, women were unable to lawfully participate in duels. Instead they had to rely on crimes of passion to preserve their reputations. Consequently, as Berenson points out, this benefited Henriette Caillaux by gaining "the sympathy of a public...whose juries regularly acquitted the victors of duels and the vanquished love" (176). Ironically, it is this need by men to affirm their masculinity that helped give justification for women's erroneous actions.

chologists, along with the

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1357
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)